Residents told AFP that heavy gunfire and explosions broke out early on Thursday near the international airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger, but they stopped within hours.
Videos captured by locals featured flames several meters high and burned cars, while other footage showed streaks of light in the sky accompanied by the sound of tremendous explosions.
The presidential residence is roughly ten kilometers (six miles) away from the capital’s Diori Hamani International Airport, which is home to an air force facility.
Abdourahamane Tiani, the leader of a junta that deposed the nation’s elected civilian president in 2023, has been in charge of Niger, a nation frequently targeted by Islamist attacks, for more than two years.
Residents of a neighborhood close to the airport claim that the shooting started just after midnight.
Two hours later, calm returned, they told AFP.
The cause of the gunshots and the number of casualties were not immediately apparent.
Early in the morning, locals reported hearing the sirens of fire vehicles approaching the airport.
Ibrahim Bana, an online activist who backs military rule, urged people to gather in the capital’s streets to “defend the country” in a Facebook video.
A joint force established by Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali to fight jihadist organizations causing fatal conflict in the area is headquartered at the nation’s biggest international airport.
French and American personnel that had been assisting in the fight against the jihadists have been driven out by Niger’s military leadership since it took control of the nation.
Niger and its neighbors, who are likewise ruled by military juntas, have united to form the Alliance of Sahel States, their own confederation, and have declared the formation of a 5,000-man army for combined military operations.
Nearly 2,000 people were killed by Islamist violence in Niger in 2025, according to ACLED, an NGO that monitors combat deaths worldwide.
Additionally, a massive cargo of uranium with an unidentified buyer that departed the country’s north in late November has been stranded at the airport for weeks.
